Tintoretto: The National Gallery of Art, part 1

A year of Art History in college still impacts my perspective on art.  I know that Tintoretto is an A-list Italian Renaissance painter.  I have more exposure to others in that august group: Titian, Giorgione, and Bellini, for instance.  So I expected grand paintings of Saints and mythic gods.  Tintoretto did not disappoint.  While it's not my favorite genre of painting, I do enjoy the way artists never painted a subject simply for its face value.  The works come like intricate puzzles full of many meanings. The slightest oddity can carry with it tremendous power, if you can unlock the meaning.

The exhibition starts with an early self-portrait. painted circa 1546/47 when the artist would have been around 28.  It's a lovely small work.  Unlike the majority of his monumental paintings.  The face bespeaks both intelligence and confidence.

"The Conversion of Saint Paul"

circa 1544

The National Gallery of Art, DC

"Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan"

circa 1545/46

Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische

Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, Germany

The subject of this one is quite titillating.  Venus is being naughty with Mars when her husband Vulcan suddenly comes home from blacksmithing in the underworld early.  He suspects something, but Mars has managed to hide under the bed.  Apparently, you don't need a PhD to be the god of war.  And his eminent undoing rests in the little dog's revenge!  (Detail provided) 

A rare compositional sketch for the painting.  

"Venus and Vulcan"

circa 1545

Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany

"Reclining Male Nude"

circa 1553

Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

"Saint George and the Dragon"

circa 1553

The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

As God looks down from heaven, St. George prepared to dispatch the dragon.  A dragon that had slain the first soldier and was about to dessert on a princess--who we see running away.  This work certainly holds an unusual focus.  Most on this subject glorify the Saint and not the nameless maiden.

"Saint George, Saint Louis, and the Princess"

circa 1552

Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy

A work on the same subject from the previous year creates a curious menage a trois by tossing Saint Louis.  The dragon is also tethered and decidedly under the Princess' control.  Delightfully strange on so many levels.